The Silent Awakening
by BlackChaos101
Summary: The world may be coming to an end & on top of that the great 10 tailed beast is about to show. Its up to Naruto & the others to save the day and earn the title of ninja, but can they? pairings: Naruhina, slight Kibahina, Narusaku, Sasusaku & much more.
1. Prologue

PLEASE READ BEFORE READING (redundant right?)  
Konnichiwa mina san. and Happy New Year!! this is my first story for the new year but it's not my first on fan fiction even though its the only one for naruto.. I've been workin on it ever since kishi revealed a ten tails (which doesnt exist in japanese mythology like the other 9) o.O  
Well i hope you enjoy it as much as i did with writing it. BTW I have no Beta so if you find any mistakes please tell me, but i think i did good anyway.  
In this story, which i hope to continue, im gonna use a lot of the characters from Shippuden. (this actually takes place in shippuden but its my alternate version of my imagination.. which can get quite wild sometimes... this means naruto and the others are 16 and stuff.)  
Oh and in the beginning of MY story, the akatsuki disbanded (after orochimaru left) for unknown reasons but are comin back together under madara's order a couple years later.. well you read and try to figure it out.  
I hope you like it!!! I take construction criticism but no flames at all (i.e calling me a douche bag for something i did wrong like making a character OOC) i tried my best to keep them in their orignal personality... OK enough of this... read my story now please! :) p.s. just wait until i get to Guren: crystal style FTW!!!

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Prologue: The Beginning

Hovering above the western horizon, the sun had yet to set, but its light moderately radiated in the dull skies creating elegant colors of violet, blue, pink, orange and other pastel colors that made themselves partially hidden among the gray cumulus clouds.

Tears from the heavens trickled on parts of the parched earth below, making the ground soften up a little for travelers. A wanderer attired in a black cloak stitched with crimson clouds, outlined in white, leisurely walked down the broad path. Small rounded bells hung by the red thread fastened to his uniquely obtuse cone shaped hat, and rang softly every few steps.

As the traveler came across some dry trees on the sides of the path, an abnormally pale goliath beetle perched itself on one of the thick, dead branches and remained still. The voyager stopped and looked up at the materializing full moon and glanced at the lingering light in the darkening skies. His dead, black eyes and distinctive streaks on his face were slightly visible in the dim light of the evening; he looked ahead and continued on his way.

After a while, the white beetle kicked out its wings with a click and after a few seconds, quickly zoomed down in front of the traveler with extreme speed. The wanderer stopped where he was and stood still as the wind blew. Slowly, he looked up to see this creature before him; as he did this, the breeze turned into a strong gust.

"Ka…"

The beetle immediately pulsated and blinked sporadically as it became bloated. Then it lit up and engulfed the surrounding area in its brightness. The person in the black cloak became nothing more than a silhouette fading in the expanding illumination.

"…Boom."

The wanderer looked forward extremely fast causing the bells on his hat to jingle; his widened dark eyes now rose-red, and his black locks swaying in his face. The insect exploded with intense force, making the ground itself shake and disintegrate, obliterating everything within a 15 ft radius with a red and yellow blaze sending boulders, decaying wood and dust soaring into the atmosphere.

Minutes after the smoke cleared and the debris fell back to earth, a crater 5 ft deep became visible with broken and smoldering earth, and chunks of trees and roots lodged in it.

One of the gray clouds in the sky parted in two and a large white bird descended from them, carrying a passenger on its back. The bird like creature was of the same lusterless shade of the bug that had just detonated, leaving behind a circle of destruction 30 ft in diameter. The mysterious person was clad in the exact same garb as the wanderer.

As the pallid beast touched the ground, he who sat on it gave a wide grin. He jumped off his creature onto the rigid ruble and looked around. His blonde hair and white ribbons extending from his rice hat blew over his face and jade colored eyes.

A crow drifting with the wind had roosted itself onto the trunk of an uprooted tree and squawked to the sky. The still searching, blonde man paid little attention to this bird until several more had begun screeching and jumping around. He stopped for a moment as if realizing something, then gained another smirk and took of his hat before briefly laughing out loud. "Mm, Itachi; we both know that wasn't enough to kill you; I've seen through your dull illusion for a little while now; show yourself!"

After yelling into the atmosphere of the vicinity, he looked up with widened eyes and saw dozens of the black birds swirling around him in a cyclone-like fashion. The crows all dived down to where the first crow was settled and their bodies kept fusing together until the shape of a man was made out. "It's been a while hasn't it, Deidara?"

Deidara eyed the figure of a man in the distance with a familiar voice. The man became more visible with each passing second, and was sitting on the fallen tree quite comfortably. "Itachi, your speed hasn't slowed, but your 'trite' artistic quality gave you away; I'm meaning the genjutsu of your sharingan. However, I'm almost positive you couldn't see my attack coming in time to avoid it…yeah."

Itachi stood up, took off his hat and opened his eyes "You're one to talk, always using the 'same' clay for explosives. But, it can't be helped I suppose; that's what identifies a specific ninja."

"What the… Don't speak to me like that! Whatever I create is different in each outcome, idiot." Deidara screamed in rage while he reached his hands into the bags strapped to each side of his thighs, and pulled out clay that condensed into his palms. "Now take this!" he said with a twisted smile as two canaries of clay flapped from his hands and flew towards Itachi.

"That may be true, but there are endless variations from genjutsu at my disposal, and there are secrets of the sharingan that you know nothing about." As Itachi finished saying this, his eyes became red again, and three black tomoe in his eyes appeared.

Itachi was cut off; a large, wooden, spine like object zoomed in front of the explosive birds, right before they could get close to their target. The birds exploded when they touched the rugged object and created a very thick wall of smoke that blocked Itachi and Deidara's vision of each other.

Surprisingly, after the explosion, the backbone-like tail hadn't been obliterated, let alone sustained any minor form of damage. It was then drawn from the smoke by the same invisible force that trusted it forward; Deidara and Itachi watched it carefully.

"Ah, if it isn't master Sasori…" Deidara grinned as Itachi's normal eyes stared in stillness.

The tail had slid itself under the cloak of Sasori. The body beneath the shroud was rounded like a large bulb, while the lower part of his face was covered by a dark bandana. "Deidara, these past few years haven't made you a better "artist" and you're still obsessed with defeating Itachi. Let me be the first to tell you… You can't beat him."

"Oh is that so? If you hadn't showed up, we would have found out." Deidara spat out.

"And just what were you going to tell the other members _if_ you _had_ killed Itachi; that he jumped off a cliff because you told him to? Forget it. Let's just head to the hideout; we've wasted enough time." Sasori sounded irritated.

Itachi turned his back to them to look at the path ahead. "That's right; you two shouldn't waste time standing around and chatting. I'm already farther than you two."

"What? Are you f***ing dense? We're all in the same place here." Deidara yelled with a raised eyebrow shaking a fist that secretly had a clay bird forming in it.

Itachi looked back to them with his dark eyes "Not exactly, I've been gone since you first attacked me. Deidara, try not to cause too much problems and Sasori, keep an eye on him; until we meet again…" After saying this, Itachi's body dissolved and crows formed from it and flew away from the area.

"Damn, so from then…Tch he must have gotten away when the beetle blew up, then he created a clone and fled to make it look like he wasn't caught in the blast _or_ ran away when in truth it was the latter, upon which, that clone must have used genjutsu on me before revealing itself sitting on that tree over there. He was convincing though, awakening his sharingan like that when I was about to strike. Not bad, I might have been fighting a clone all day." Deidara said to himself.

"You're sure slow Deidara. You know, Orochimaru was my old partner, but this time around I hope it's not you."

Deidara put back on his hat and jumped on his bird and started pondering out loud. "Yeah, yeah; but you know I'm pretty sure Itachi didn't see my attack coming and only dodged at the last second, but on the other hand…"

"Deidara…" Sasori interjected as they were about to continue the path, "shut up!"

Meanwhile elsewhere, in a dark place, a moving mechanical device and footsteps walking on damp earth and puddles are heard and finally come to a stop. In the dimness, as the exact same garments can be made out, the people clothed in them stood in front of a wall which held illegible text and characters.

A masculine yet feeble voice broke the silence, "This looks like it; I'll now interpret as best I can." In the faint light, eyes unhurriedly opened and revealed a glowing ripple effect-like pattern coming from the pupil and extending to the edge of the eyes. Through the light of his eyes, the undecipherable text became clear.

"...Long, long ago around the genesis of jutsu, there existed a holy shrine in the midst of a forest known as the Shrine of Life and Death. This cryptic shrine was bestowed with the secrets of the universe and was encased by heaven's light during the day and sheathed by black haze at night. Time and again, when the sun rose, the shrine symbolized birth and rebirth, and at sunset it signified death and destruction.

The people of that time prayed and worshiped at it during the daylight in exchange for prosperity and having their deepest desires realized. However, they were never to go to the shrine after nightfall; if they did, their prayers would still be answered…but at a terrible price, and the outcome of the wish would also have a negative outcome.

Many were granted their trivial requests, while others had great desires fulfilled. But during this era, battles were fought as wars took place for territory and control. The wars caused hatred and rage to overwhelm the people and threw the world into chaos.

The chaos of the world had instigated the rise of an almighty shape shifting beast of malice which wandered the Earth. This beast's powers were unimaginable and everywhere it roamed was twisted into havoc and discord as calamity broke out…"

"…Is that all?" a firm feminine voice asked.

"Some parts of it have faded completely, but that _is_ where it ends. Could there be more?" the male voice asked.

The man and woman stood there in silence as if waiting for a sign from heaven. "…Actually there is." Another male voiced in the dark. He was shrouded in the unknown and could partially be made out by the bags under his eyes and short black spiky hair.

"Ah, it's you. We didn't even sense when you came in." the female said with a plain face with monotone. "Did you catch any of that, or does Nagato have to read it again?"

He put a mask over his face before speaking again. "Ah, that won't be necessary, Konan. I heard every word, and I couldn't be more elated. Ha-ha this looks like the beginning of a wonderful tale." The man laughed before folding his arms and walking up to the wall. "This is just the first of many tablets which indirectly tell the tale of the birth of the ninja world. If you think of them as a series this would be part one." he said rubbing the wall lightly as not to damage its ancient contents.

"Well, now that we've found this, we can put the first part of our plan into action; let's step outside, shall we?" the masked man said in a deeper, more serious tone.

The three beings walked out of the dark cavern as the same mechanical sound was audible. "Now Pain, awaken the hidden powers of the Jūbi."

Six men in the black apparel swiftly appeared in a circle and placed there hands on the rocky ground, and began to insert their chakra into it as it started to illuminate in a ripple pattern one at a time.

The man in the mask took notice of how slow the rings were appearing, and squinted his eyes before whispering to Nagato, "I wonder if there's enough chakra. This task may require more than what I posses… maybe even that of a bijuu. Perhaps we should have waited for Hoshigaki Kisame to arrive."

"Its ok, the rinnegan is essential here, and besides, from this range, chakra and chakra control are more then adequate." He answered calmly before clasping his hands together, to exert more chakra. By this time, six glowing rings had formed underneath the six Akatsuki members.

"**Ninja Art: Jūbi Awakening**" the six along with Nagato shouted in unison as the ground began to shake and break after a while and steam erupted from the ripples. Light quickly expanded from the ripples and shot up into the dark indigo sky, targeting the still forming full moon. A circular gust of wind blew away the wind and gushed outwards, disbursing over the land. The moon gave a strong glow of white that lasted only for a second, and then faded along with the ripples. During that second, it became almost like a second sun; it's light revealed everyone below and a nose bleeding, gasping red head, situated in a large mechanic chair of some sort with black rods protruding out of his back.

The sun began to set below the horizon as the six men lifelessly collapsed with a thud. "You've done it… Nagato; take a rest." Konan comforted him, giving an unsure smile of happiness or concern.

"Phase one is now complete." Madara smiled under his mask.

As the sun continued to set, the wind swayed carrying the orange-red leaves of autumn in the progressing starry atmosphere. Someone in dark clothing crawled on the forest floor gasping for breath. They looked up at the full moon in the sky with their dark, lifeless, violet colored eyes and coughed. "The time is imminent… that feared creature… will once again enter this world." The dark figure mumbled calmly as it rested its head on the ground. They clutched their pendant that was positioned on the ground beside their head, as it gave a dim lavender glow. Then slowly, they closed their eyes as everything around them seemed to fade.

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Ok, there's the prologue. :) im sleepy... goin to bed.  
o and R&R please... no negative comments .  
(im already a goods ways into chapter 1, but i'll get back to that later)


	2. Chapter 1

Please Read: Yup, i'm still alive. Well... Here it is finally CHAPTER 1! wohooo. i know that its been a while since i updated (like seven months 0o) but i've been finished with this chapter for a few weeks now. its just that exams and all have been serious this time aorund. Oh and i failed literature this term with F. now that's f'd up lol. yup veryy hard to believe but proud to admit i've got nothing to hide. its not that im iliterate.. -_- ya well i'll try to do better nex time if our teacher isnt so demanding. Also i believe that something isn't right with this chapter... maybe cuz its the longest one i did in a while, or maybe its too repititous, or i'm being paranoid.. i dont know.. but the person who was suppose to beta was taking their own time; not that i'm against it.. i just wanted to get this out ASAP. any way if you find out what's wrong, tell me in a review or msg plz :D I'm already on chapter 2 which is coming along quite nicely but a little motivation (R&R) wud b appreciated too. Enjoy.  
Said it before and i'll painfull say it again *sigh Naruto and all characters affiliated with, are under ownership of Masashi Kishimoto, i own nothing.

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Chapter 1: Side Effects of Phase One

"…It seems that even in my dreams where nothing is impossible, I still can't catch up to you…" A somewhat raspy, yet slightly, depressing voice echoed, fading through the darkness.

As the echo vanished, a light had erupted like a lightning flash, and a reality of black and white came into existence. Everything was motionless; everything was quiet. Silver leaves were pinned to a sky of gray, for the wind refused to move them. The sun light pierced through trees and flashed its dim light on the numerous gray blades of grass sprouting from the earth. The reflection of the white full moon appeared on a silver puddle's surface. Birds wedged in time were hovering above a solidified waterfall of gloom.

Suddenly, the silence was shattered by the splatter of a person jumping from the puddle, which distorted the mirror image of the moon. As the droplets slowly flew into the air, everything that was gray dissolved into vibrant color. The sun's light became golden and brilliant causing the sky to present its bright blue hue. The leaves and grasses adjusted to several shades of green as they sparkled with dew. The water fall became bright and clear as crystal, and the gray birds that floated above it became of russet color.

Moments later, a second splash was created by another. This time, everything came to life. The wind blew as if it had never stopped for a moment, causing the leaves to dance in the atmosphere around the swaying trees and made sun rays shift on the forest floor as the blades of grass bent at its will.

"Sasuke!" A golden spiky haired male called as he pursued the shadow of an old comrade that laughed at him.

The birds unfroze completely and soared freely while the waterfall resumed its natural flow, making a fierce roar as it gushed over rocks and dashed into a lake.

"Naruto, wait." A man revealing one eye with silver spiked hair yelled from behind. He was accompanied by a pink haired female. They tried to keep up with the blonde, but to no avail. His speed was enhanced by his determination to close the gap between himself and Sasuke.

"Naruto, slow down damn it!" the female shouted angrily while chasing him.

While pacing forward, Naruto slightly turned his head to see his teacher, Kakashi and other squad companion, Sakura, out the corner of his eye. "No way; you guys speed the hell up." he commanded as he looked back in front to the fleeing shadow.

Finally, the brightest light appeared among the trees. The shadow laughed maniacally as it made its way towards the glow. Naruto watched as the silhouette leaped into the light and faded away as the laugh echoed into nothing.

"Grr Sasuke!" Naruto gritted his teeth, as he squint his eyes and jumped into the light. He felt when his feet hit the ground, but everything was totally white. He could faintly hear a roaring waterfall in the distance from below where he was standing. Slowly the colorless light faded away, and Naruto was given the chance to look around. "No sign of him." he softly said; then his eyes widened.

Naruto looked at what he was standing on; a statue of the First Hokage. "This is…" Naruto began his mouth gaped, unable to close.

"The Valley of the End" a familiarly eerie voice spoke from the opposite side.

Naruto's body twitched when he heard the voice. He quickly looked up, and there across from him on the statue of the Legendary Uchiha was a pale life form with black locks.

"Brings back memories, am I right?" the person maliciously smirked behind their tresses that were blown by the breeze.

"…You…What are you doing here, Orochimaru, where's Sasuke?" Naruto's teeth and fists clenched in rage, his eyes of azure transitioned to red and pupils altered to that of a fox's. "Where the **** is he?" The whisker marks on his face were now thick and visible. Blue chakra rapidly exuded from and covered his body and, just like his eyes, turned crimson.

"…Ha-ha-ha; foolish boy" Orochimaru slowly and softly laughed before smiling and slightly tilting his head. "I… am Sasuke."

'_No way_' Naruto thought as he felt a jolt run through his body that almost made him break down all together. He watched in confusion and rage as Orochimaru attained a cynical smile and reached for his neckline with his right hand; he grabbed his neck and pulled at its ashen skin.

Naruto gazed through the red flowing chakra that still coated his body as Orochimaru's whitish skin stretched, and face was being peeled away with a final grin, only to be replaced bit by bit by a new one. "No way, no way, NO WAY!" Naruto closed his eyes and tightened them to prevent seeing the outcome, hoping that it wasn't real.

After seconds of forced sightlessness, he heard that voice from long ago with an impudent tone to boot, "Heh what's the matter, cry baby?"

As much as he was unwilling to do so, his eyes pried themselves open as wide as possible. Beyond his tinted vision of red was a horrible sight to behold.

He saw Sasuke's face; a face that hadn't changed since the day he left the Hidden Leaf Village. He was somewhat inwardly contented to see that face, however this face was on Orochimaru's body, and this was enough to drive Naruto to the brink of insanity and make him sick to the stomach, all at once.

"We never finished our last battle here; allow me to end it once and for all!" Sasuke made a leap through the air over the chute's edge.

Naruto couldn't move; he just stood there not batting a single eye. His narrowed pupils moderately trembled back and forth as his old friend whom he tried so hard to save, flew towards him drawing back a fist. '_Sasuke… what the heck did he do to you?_'

Before the pale fist could strike, Kakashi appeared to Naruto's left and stopped the punch with his right open palm directly in front of Naruto's face. Within less than a second, no sooner had Naruto turned to eye Kakashi did Sakura sprint to his right and punch the face that she once admired but now was revoltingly plastered on Orochimaru's body. The body flew through the air and landed in the stream that was transitioning into a cascading waterfall which led to the large lake at the bottom.

"Stay focused Naruto, and calm down." Kakashi chided the blonde, noticing the red energy that covered him, but not taking his eyes off the stream current. He pulled up the headband that covered his left eye revealing his sharingan and slowly walked towards the water's edge.

"Something like that could mean the difference between life and death next time, idiot." Sakura glanced into Naruto's eyes before turning and cautiously walking towards the flow of water. She started talking to herself loud enough for Naruto to hear. "Was that really him? Couldn't be... He hasn't aged a day since…"

Naruto tried to relax a bit and took in deep breaths. The red chakra had thinned itself and dissolved with the wind coming from the forest behind him. His eyes returned to their original shade and pupil size.

"Brace yourselves; he should be coming up any second now." Kakashi said gripping two kunai as Sakura mimicked his actions.

Without any signals, Orochimaru leaped out of the water with Sasuke's crazed grinning face and a tongue hanging out from the side of his mouth and blazing chidori in hand.

Before gravity could begin to take effect on Orochimaru, Naruto quickly looked up and took a step forward; and with that one step, everything slowed and faded to gray once more. Everything was dull and lifeless yet again as it was after the first echo faded and the world was illuminated with black and white.

In the midst of all the stillness and gray, there was Naruto, fully colored as if the only spec of life in a dim world. In the stillness, he could hear his own thoughts echo, or rather, the thoughts of that abominable creature inside of him. **'Hehe .**_**..Destroy… kill him… kill them all... Ha-ha Make them BURN in our hate!'**_

'_No, I won't!' _Naruto felt a hot sensation that erupted inside him like a volcano. He had almost no power to control it and found himself once again being enveloped by the red bubbling light. He could barely speak, but managed to retain little control over himself and stop himself from being fully consumed, despite still being coated with the dark energy. He formed a red rasengan made of the crimson energy that covered his body. "I…I'll save Sasuke my own way!" He screamed out.

He jumped through the gray atmosphere ready to strike his rasengan with Sasuke's chidori like before. As he jumped in the air, time unfroze and color returned to the world again and he and Sasuke got closer and closer. What happened next was something Naruto did not expect. Orochimaru's hand knocked Naruto's rasengan out of his hand like a cheap trinket, and with the other hand that held chidori, stabbed Naruto in the stomach.

Even thought he took a direct hit from chidori, he didn't feel a thing. No pain at all, as if he was invincible because of the now dissipating fox's cloak or had become completely numb from the chidori's lightning. Sasuke withdrew the pale hand and let Naruto fall into the chute with a splash, while he continued to make his way to the other side where a shocked Kakashi and Sakura stood in silence.

"That was easy." Sasuke smirked in Orochimaru's voice before making his way to the other two ninja, who then fled to the bottom of the waterfall where a lake formed to ensure Naruto's safety.

Naruto sank down, deeper and deeper. It was impossible for the water to be this deep, he wasn't going down because of the waterfall, its rapid current had already taken him down the cascade; and what's more, the water was growing cold and was dark just like the other times. This time, Naruto somehow knew that it was only gray under the depths of the lake, and above it was warm and colorful. Strangely enough, he could feel the warmth leaving him every second and the cold slowly claiming his immobile body, but still could not feel the pain from Sasuke's attack.

He continued descending into what seemed like a watery abyss until he finally reached the soft rocky bottom. '_Looks like I'm safe… for now. Sasuke, I'm so sorry…If only I-' _

He abruptly felt a jolt from inside him. _**'Hehehe, Imprudent kid... You should have listened; you should have destroyed them with my power.'**_ By this time, what seemed to be blood erupted from the puncture in his stomach like black ink from an octopus, and floated around him. _**'I shall finish what you yourself could not start, I will incinerate everything; my powers will overwhelm you and break though this weakening seal...'**_ Naruto felt a surge of personified corruption throughout his body like never before. Red chakra once again bubbled from his pores and he had little control over his body. His form started to slowly rise as one tail began to form then 3 tails appeared, with the fourth beginning to materialize. The voice still clawed at his conscious, _**'… and I will destroy all those who oppose me… who oppose US, Naruto.'**_

'N… N_o you won't_.' Naruto objected in his mind before opening up to realization.

'_I can't believe this is happening, I have no control.'_ Naruto thought. The blood that was lingering around him was beginning to glow and boil and cling to his skin, burning his flesh. _'Mustn't … let it… take control again… like with Jiraiya.'_ He chanted straining with all his might to resist being taken over, and it seemed to work as the black liquid retreated back into Naruto's stomach and the scarlet chakra dissolved. '_Whoa, I can't believe i stopped it.'_ It was quiet in Naruto's undersea world of gray and he could hear his heart steadily pounding in his head.

He tried to swim to the surface, and the closer he got, the warmer it became and he could also faintly hear someone calling his name. _'I'm coming Sakura.'_ His heart still pounding louder and louder, until it finally ceased creating a deafening silence.

'_**Mere Mortal, you cannot stop ME nor deny MY power.'**_ Naruto became shocked. It was the voice of the Nine Tails, but it wasn't something he would normally expect him to say. Naruto began screaming in pain and agony, feeling like his very soul was being torn asunder; his body began to convulse rapidly all over and expand and stretch until it started to tear and release steam and bubbles. Then an enormous entity ripped out of Naruto's body and kept growing with the dark smoke it appeared with a rumbling bellow. "**I… am… FREE!"**

Above the lake, Sakura called out Naruto's name waiting for any signs of life. Orochimaru and Kakashi were a distance apart nearby staring each other down. Then the large lake illuminated itself and turned red like bright blood, as if embodying fury and hatred. The ground began to shake and crack open around the lake, expelling gas from inside the earth. The wind became harsh and stung as they all watched in horror and mouths agape as a gigantic, monstrous beast with nine tails slowly emerged from the depths of the lake of rage sheathed in red mist from the evaporating lake.

"**Let the destruction begin**"

The beast's fiery-red eye's opened after hearing these words echo from space, as if it came from the moon and stars above. Only its eyes filled with blood lust were visible through the steam and he put on a grin that made every last deadly tooth strike fear into all who would behold them.

He swung down but one of his mighty tails which made the land quake and created a crater in the form of his tail, but twice the size. Kakashi and Orochimaru made it out of the way at the last second, but Sakura was crushed by the mere shockwave of his massive tail; every bone in her body shattered like antique glass, and she was killed instantly; flattened like a pancake.

'SAKURA!' Naruto could somehow see the destruction that was being caused through the eyes of the nine tails, but could do nothing. He felt utter shock upon seeing Sakura's death, and for some reason, felt as though was the one that caused it.

Then it was Kakashi's turn; the fox turned his head in Kakashi's direction then opened his mouth wide, almost at an 180o angle, as a swirling ball of blue chakra and red fire materialized, and continued to grow as if feeding on the atmosphere itself. Kakashi turned around and darted off in the midst of nearby trees. With a ferocious roar and magnificent flash, the blazing globe exploded from its mouth as a shaft of dark lavender flames shot out at intense speed and gushed over the forest where Kakashi was.

The deluge of flames engulfed and literally snuffed out everything in its path, and like trying to hide naked torsos from God Almighty, it created a wave of thick white smoke that covered up the destruction of disintegrating tree stumps and burning roots embedded into scorched, melting earth. Bleached steaming bones were protruding from the sizzling, softened earth, before cracking and slowly sinking down.

Still clad with Sasuke's face, Orochimaru jumped up and sent a fireball from his mouth that hit the nine tails in the back. And as if covered by gasoline, the flames spread and covered the nine tail beast, yet it remained unflinching, or to be more precise, acted as though nothing was happening to him. With a wicked grin and malicious eyes, the beast spread out his nine tails like a fan allowing four tails to be on either side of the one in the middle. The tails quickly wrapped the middle one and the creature allowed the inferno to travel up his tail, creating what looked like one very large tail made of flame.

"Damn!" Sasuke cursed as he began to run off at high speeds.

"**Nothing will escape my fury.**" The beast chuckled as he lifted his merged tails to the sun and moon, "**Nothing at all**." He dropped his tails, smashing them into the earth. A shockwave was summoned in the form of a visible heat wave of scarlet that destroyed the land, trees and statues of the legendary ninja before it even intercepted them. The earth trembled and it was as if gravity was distorted as huge boulders and chunks of land flew into space. Steam poured upward from the lake and waterfall, disappearing on its way up to the heavens. It had long been over for Orochimaru; his crumbling bones now left to sink into the flaming, cracked and melting sand that was once firm and steady land.

Flames swept across the land, relentless in their path, extinguishing all life and creation. The pleasant resonances of nature – of birds chirping and smashing water from the falls, had now been replaced by the crackling sound of voracious flames bringing devastation. The flames grew and grew until they devoured everything in sight and reached to the skies and enveloped the heavenly bodies. A faint chuckle could be heard growing louder and louder, before the flames turned black, emitting dark string colored chakras of navy blue, deep violet, and dark ruby.

Naruto's vision had now switched, and it was as if he was no longer the nine tails, but was looking down at all the destruction taking place and could feel the heat and darkness surrounding him. His heart was a locomotive racing and pounding in his head again. The ground rumbled and out of the flames rose one of the tails, blacker than the night sky. One by one they rose up from the flames as Naruto counted; '_one… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine…TEN?_' Naruto couldn't believe it. This was not the nine tailed fox. It was something bigger, more powerful, more menacing, and more deadly than the nine tails… at least, if that were possible.

Naruto felt fear travel up his body as the creature's body started to appear from the black flames, with what seemed to be one eye with strange designs. Growls that seemed to invoke the essence of death itself were all that was audible. Soon everything went black and silent, and it was as if Naruto went blind and deaf. Then he felt himself plunge into the lake again and could hear someone calling his name again like before. He finally mustered the courage to force open his eyes.

"Wha… What the?" Naruto gave a shocked expression, for he opened his eyes to see a gun pointed in front of his face held by a young teen boy with black hair, and his own body drenched in water.

"Get up, Naruto!" Konohamaru eccentrically smiled, "You promised to help me practice today, remember, REMEMBER? My God Naruto, do you know how long I was trying to get you up?"

The blonde Nin was so confused, and still unsure of what was going on.

First I tried calling your name, then I punched you in the stomach, Then I got out my water gun and started soaking you AND yelling your name; nothing worked."

Naruto thought back to his dream where Kakashi and Sakura were calling his name while chasing him, them to when Sasuke stabbed him and he barely felt it, then to when he fell into the waterfall and lake and thought he heard Sakura calling his name. "Wait, so all that was you? …"

"Uh duh, didn't I just say it was? Now let's go."

Naruto waited a while before being shot in the face with the water gun again then reacted by jumping up and chasing the frightened and excited Konohamaru. "Why you little… come back here."

As they ran away like mad fools, Konohamaru and Naruto failed to notice the edges around Naruto's bed where it seemed to be slightly singed from heat.

* * *

Else where, at the Hokage's headquarters, Shizune rushed up to Tsunade's office and swung open the door. "Sorry I'm late." She panted heavily. "The autopsy on the man we found just outside Konoha's boundaries just finished. I think you'll find it strange to know that after a whole week, we didn't find any- Lady Tsunade, are you sleeping?" She asked from the sight of Tsunade's head on the desk and many bottles of sake on the desk.

"Sweet kami on toast! Looks like I've been gone longer than I thought." She rushed over to Tsunade. "Wake up Lady Tsunade, wake up!"

"No, no, NOOO!" Tsunade screamed, shaking her head like in a nightmare.

"TSUNADE!"

The blond woman pitched up with sweat forming on her face and becoming visible under her arms. She stared at Shizune gasping.

"You...dreamt you were marrying Jiraiya again?" Shizune questioned.

"No, it was…" Tsunade looked down at the empty bottles of sake on the ground around her chair, and the half empty bottles on her desk on her files that needed serious filing. "Yes, that's it. We got… married." Tsunade turned around on her swivel seat and looked beyond the glass of her tower.

"Ok, now that I'm back, no more sake. You know it gives you nightmares, now…what did you really dream about, Tsunade?"

There was a long pause as Tsunade blankly stared out her window at the village scenery as an eerie wind blew her blonde tresses. "I'm not even sure myself Shizune. I'm not sure at all."

* * *

There it is folks. thats all for now. remember R&R. this chapter was in development since january sad to say.. lets hope i get the nex one out b4 christmas lol ... no really i mean it.!.!. haha jus kidding  
Take it easy everyone hope summer's good for you all.


	3. Chapter 2

Success! Hey everyone. Chapter 2 up, and tis b4 Christmas =D i feel so accomplished. Yay me. ok so i know my last chapter was a little bit dark ...and disturbing.. but this one shouldnt b too bad :D. Hope everyone's having a good summer. I have no beta, as of yet, but i hope i did good. I got an A on my English BGCSE.. which is kind of like the Bahamian version of S.A.T.s well enjoy :D.

Chapter 2: I Want That Sword!

* * *

"An old grandfather clock struck ten o'clock in an old cottage on a still night. The night was cold and silent, as if the grim reaper had cast his shadowy cloak over the light of day. However, the inside was quite the opposite. It was warm and inviting, and had a lovely aroma of roses. The hearth was lit with a dazzling flame that made the room glow softly.

Open petite hands held a small gray bird that seemed to be in agonizing pain. The little dimly colored bird lay on its back, weakly flapping its wings; each flap bringing it closer to its last breath.

The little raven haired lass holding the bird had a shadow covering the upper portion of her face, watching the bird wriggle and flap in her own shadow. Finally, when the clock had two minutes after ten, the bird stopped moving, and began to get stiff, as its beady eyes grew glossy and lifeless. The girl's murky lavender eyes had the reflection of the lifeless bird in perspective and continued to stare at it for another moment or two. '…_Dead?_'

She began to turn and walk over to where a man in big circle glasses and ashen hair was sitting in his chair wearing white pajamas with blue stripes. Her little nightgown reached down past her ankles and was semi-transparent and whitish.

Still holding the little bird, with her head tilted towards it, she approached her father before looking up at him with dark emotionless eyes. "Why do things '_die_', Papa?"

Her papa looked down at her with the dim glare from the hearth reflecting off his glasses. "It just means that… its time had come and death… just happened." He said softly at the end of his sentence, looking at the bird.

There was a long silent pause before the little girl tilted her head in curiosity and spoke again in her tiny voice. "What is death?"

He thought about his little girl's question and how to answer without frankly telling her as to sadden her or traumatize her. "Well, death is…" Then everything faded to white.**"**Mumbling was barely heard in a chamber of reality.

* * *

"Think sh…be ok?"

"…don't kno…"

"…ait… wait! She's …oming to."

"Th…k goodness!"

Dark lavender eyes slowly fluttered open and slowly got adjusted to everything around them, including the morning sun that was now transitioning into afternoon radiance. "…W…where am I? And who…are you all?" the female asked in a frail voice looking at the four other females around her, looking down at her. She was wearing all black; a long sleeved shirt with tights that reached down to her ankles and a short skirt. She sat on the ground that was partially covered with leaves signaling Fall's approach.

"My name's Haruno, Sakura." The girl with pink short hair spoke; she had emerald green eyes like that complemented her facial features and wore a red sleeveless shirt, short, tight, navy colored pants with a short skirt with white elbow guards with black gloves and black luster shin guards joined to her footwear. "We're all kunoichi." Sakura pointed to her head to a red head protector with the Hidden Leaf insignia.

The next to speak had blonde hair like the sun's rays, which flowed down to where her knees bent and in the front, covered her right eye and stopped past her chin. She wore a purple sleeveless shirt and short skirt of the same color, allowing her bellybutton to show. "I'm Yamanaka, Ino. We're in the forest area just outside of the Hidden Leaf village." She smiled kindly.

"The name's Tenten, don't worry about last names. The four of us were handpicked by the Hokage, Lady Tsunade, herself, to act as a special squad to complete, uh… a certain mission." The third spoke right after Ino. She had short brown hair and wore a white kimono-like shirt with loose sleeves, and loose fitting red pants with traditional Japanese sandals with all kinds of weapon compartments on her, some not visible and others with weapon handles sticking out and carried a big scroll on her back. "What are you doing lying around here?"

"I think… I got exhausted and must have collapsed." The black haired girl said softly to herself, looking around, then down, holding on to her necklace.

The last girl had blue hair like the deep sea on a sunny day with a Chinese bang in the front and hair that reached down to where her back met the seat of her pants. She wore a loose fitting jacket with light colored sleeves and long blue pants that fit slackly and wore her head protector around her neck. She had a shy yet calm face with big bright eyes that were so lightly colored lavender, they seemed almost transparent; they were the exact opposite of the girl they had just encountered. "he- Hello, I'm Hyuga, Hinata; nice to meet you."

"It's… a pleasure to meet you all." She weekly said, obviously trying to make it unnoticeable that she was forcing herself to speak.

"What's your name?" was Sakura's question to ask, that is until Ino beat her to it, and asked with a smile.

"My… my name is Hotaru… but my dad calls me Kyoshi sometimes." She slightly blushed.

"…Kyoshi? Isn't that a male's name?" Tenten asked in bewilderment.

"I- I thought it meant pure." Hinata interjected softly.

"Maybe both… but I think my dad calls me that because I'm so quiet and innocent… most of the time." Hotaru softly said the last part.

"Well, if you put those names together you get something like…'quiet firefly' or 'firefly of innocence'." Ino said to herself out loud, ignoring the statement Hotaru just said.

"Lucky for you, we were headed back to the village when Hinata spotted you with her Byakugan." Sakura said with a relieving sigh and comely smile.

"…Byakugan? What's that?" The raven haired girl asked, tilting her head slightly, sounding a little stronger.

"It's a… sort of ability; part of my bloodline boundary." Hinata said self-consciously.

"Yeah; with it she can see through objects and pinpoint chakra network sources. That's how we found you." Sakura stated. "It's very convenient to have and it's precautionary just incase there were any ninja that wanted to ambush us."

"Or if there was someone lost." Ino finished. "Speaking of which… you didn't happen to see… oh I don't know… anyone else around did you?"

"Ino! That's confidential." Sakura exclaimed.

"Oh please billboard brow, we found her unconscious remember, she just might have seen someone before she passed out, plus she doesn't know that's what our mission actually is." Ino retorted with attitude to boot, seeming quite proud of herself.

"Ino you're so PIG-headed." Sakura spat back. "One, if she was unconscious why the hell did you ask when she clearly couldn't even recall where she was, and two, you just let her know what our mission was!"

"Yeah well… your forehead is huge."

"Oh really?"

"Really!"

"Well you're a pig in a wig."

"Is that so?"

"Hell yeah! I just said it didn't I?"

The other three girls looked on as the words flew back and forth like ineffective, invisible kunai raining down. Hinata and Tenten had large sweat drops on the back of their heads.

"…Are they always like this?" Hotaru asked.

"Well… yes" Hinata answered first.

"Only on the weekdays." Tenten answered next with a sigh.

"…They're funny Hehe." Hotaru started to laugh then she stopped suddenly and held her head and clutched her chest and groaned in pain.

"Well your forehead is sooo big…

"Wait, shush!" Sakura stopped Ino abruptly, not wanting to hear how that sentence was going to end, and more interested in what was happening to Hotaru.

"Hotaru!" Hinata exclaimed in concern.

"Are you alright Hotaru?" Tenten asked.

"Yes… I'm fine. Just… a little head ach… and chest pain." Hotaru said, gasping between words.

"We should to take you with us to the hospital to make sure your fine… wouldn't want you falling out again." Sakura said starting to help Hotaru get up on her feet.

"NO! ...I mean that's quite alright, thanks. I don't live very far from here." Hotaru said. "My papa is my doctor, always has been."

"Hmm okay, but one of us should go with you to make sure nothing else happens. Luckily there are two medical ninja here." Ino stated looking at Hotaru and Sakura. "Which one of us should go?"

"I'll go." Sakura volunteered. "You guys, keep look out for… well you-know-who."

"Right!" The three kunoichi answered.

"Ready Hinata?" Tenten asked.

"Mhm" Hinata clasped her hands together and left her left index finger sticking up. "Byakugan" An invisible force rushed from the spot between her eyes and her hair flew up lightly. Thin veins began appearing on the right side of her right eye and left side of the other; her light lavender eyes now paler and more transparent.

"Alright lead the way Hinata." Ino said.

"Okay." And with that, they jumped off swiftly and out of sight.

"They're… quite fast. Can you do that too?" Hotaru asked, now calmed down a little.

"Sure I can, get on my back. We'll move faster that way."

Hotaru began to walk towards Sakura as she knelt down. She was about to touch Sakura's back when her hand jolted itself back, as if she weren't in control. "I'm sorry, but… I don't think that I can in my condition."

"Oh right, I forgot; I thought you would be better by now." Sakura said standing back up. "Well you said you live nearby, so I guess we can walk and take our time."

"Yes. Thank you." Hotaru replied with a smile as the girls started to make their way through the forest.

* * *

"Naruto, stop!" Konohamaru yelled.

"No way, its taken me long enough to catch you." Naruto yelled as he literally threw Konohamaru out of the apartment's second floor window, and into the nearby apartment dumpster.

Luckily, or as fate would have it, Konohamaru's friends, Moegi and Udon were nearby, spectating to the disorder.

"Eww Konohamaru, you're a dirty boy." Moegi chided him.

"Uh… don't worry, we'll help you out." Udon said.

"WE?" Moegi shouted with scorn.

Konohamaru popped his head out of the garbage of empty and half empty noodle cartons and spoiled milk. "Narutooo you said you were gonna teach me more stuff."

"Yeah, I will… But later today." Naruto yelled.

"You said that yesterday!" an angry Konohamaru, almost ready to cry, spat out.

"Oh yeah… Well I mean it today." Naruto yelled out with a wide grin, rubbing the back of his head; and with that, he shut his window and went to get out of his PJs and put on his usual ninja attire. He walked straight pass the mess that had been made trying to catch Konohamaru and was determined to clean up later.

* * *

Elsewhere in a dry desert-like area, winds blow kicking up dust, as the ground shows a scorched ripple pattern made the day before. A little white paper plane, a child's play toy, flew by drifting along on the wind before flying behind a boulder.

"Well how many of them are here now?" a deep voice spoke from the shadows of a nearby cave.

There was a short pause. "I just finished guiding the last two, the 'Artist' and the 'Puppet Master' here. Everyone is here now… except for the 'Immortal' and the Uchiha." A female's voice said from behind the rock. She emerged from behind the rock in a black mantle with red clouds and hair as blue as the sky with an emotionless face.

She held the paper plane in her left hand before letting it go, only for it to suspend itself in midair before unfolding and latching on to her cloak, blending in with it, becoming part of it.

"It's strange don't you think? Itachi's not here yet and by the way Deidra and Sasori made it seem, he should have been here before them." The girls eyes shone as blue as her hair.

"Now, now Konan, why so worried about him? Hidan's not here yet either." The masculine voice said.

"Yes, but after all this time, I can still expect that from him. Itachi's… different. You don't think…"

"Uchiha, Itachi… a very gifted shinobi, that one. Considering there aren't that many left…" the man mockingly chuckled, "he is probably the strongest Uchiha …for the moment."

"For the moment?" Konan asked.

"Have you forgotten? His brother who is currently driven by revenge. I don't know myself how strong he is since he's under Orochimaru's wing, but _revenge_ is a funny thing; the journey down the road called revenge always makes us… stronger I always say, Hehe." The masked man walked out of the shadows dressed in an all-black cloak. "We all, however, have our limitations as to how far revenge will carry us, I wonder what's Sasuke's."

"I see. Well Nagato is still resting to regain his strength, and at the moment the other Pain are still incapacitated as well." Konan started.

"Mhm, that's understandable." The man folded his arms and nodded.

Konan continued speaking, "I'm going to see if I can locate Hidan and Itachi, they may be close." And with that said, parts of her body started to unwrap like toilet tissue in the form of paper and peeled away from her face and other various body parts.

"No, don't look for Itachi, if he's not here yet, then only God knows where he'd be. Hidan on the other hand might be closer, besides even if everyone, including Itachi and Hidan were here, we would have to wait for Pain to properly recuperate before holding a meeting."

By this time, Konan's entire body had been converted into pieces and rolls and ribbons of paper that were transforming into butterflies and origami birds while floating away in different directions. One piece of white square paper stopped where it was. It had the form of a mouth on it. "Understood." it said right before turning into a paper plane and drifting off in the wind.

Itachi was in some distant land where the mist was dense and thick among the trees. He stood in front of a seemingly abandoned and dilapidated Mayan-like pyramid and looked up at a flight of stairs that headed into a denser, thicker fog, leaving the pinnacle concealed in mystery.

* * *

"So, this is where _it_ is." He said staring up into the haze, "This shouldn't take too long, as well as it may take a while… here goes."

He slowly began his journey up the jagged stone stairs, each step made a slight crumbling sound. His smoldering black eyes were not taking their gaze away from the goal, as if on a life or death mission for himself, if not for someone else.

* * *

Sakura and Hotaru finally came upon a three story house, literally in the middle of the forest. It was white with pink trimming and the third floor had circular windows.

"Thank you, Sakura… this is it." Hotaru said in a much stronger voice now.

"You're welcome." Sakura said with a smile. "This is a nice place, but why is it out here in the forest, when the Leaf village is so close?"

"We're always moving around nations. Papa is a very dedicated doctor and does a lot of research almost everywhere." Hotaru said as the two girls slowly walked over the white front door with the golden knob. "We're planning on moving into your village very soon; I hope we can be very good friends."

"That's nice, and I hope so too." Sakura said with a friendly gesture as they reached the porch.

Hotaru slowly reached for the knob as the black tight sweater she was wearing became more noticeable. Just as Sakura was about to ask her about it, the door swung open and revealed a space of black as if the door had been pulled opened by an invisible force. Strangely enough, the air around the girls became tense and the suction from the door had left their hair and skirts blowing in that direction.

'_What's this murderous intent I'm feeling… and this smell? Roses…?_' Sakura mentally talked to herself. She acted on instinct and jumped in front of Hotaru with a sharp kunai firmly grasped in her hands.

"Hotaru stay back, something's wrong." Sakura warned, facing the darkness beyond the door.

"Well look who finally decided to come home." A strict feminine voice declared.

"Ms. Akai!" Hotaru cried out.

"Wait, what?" Sakura asked confused. The urge to kill that she felt had dissipated along with the smell of roses that had become quite eminent before disbursing.

There in the door was a Caucasian lady with flaming red, curly hair that stopped at her back, a red sleeveless dress that sparkled and stopped midway at her thighs, and eyes that resembled that of a succubus. "It's about damn time." She folded her arms and kept her gaze on the girls. "Someone's got some explaining to do and it's not little Ms. pinky."

* * *

Meanwhile  
"You find anything yet, Hinata?" Tenten asked, as the trio jumped from tree branch to tree branch.

Hinata shook her head. She moved her eyes left and right searching. "No, nothing ye- W..wait! I see something." Her Byakugan picked up the silhouette of someone lying face down. "This way!"

"Alright, but something doesn't feel right." Ino said softly.

"Like how?" Tenten asked.

"We've… been this way… before." Hinata said.

"Really? I don't remember this." Tenten exclaimed with a puzzled look.

"That's because… we passed this place when I spotted Hotaru. I remember this. I thought I saw a boulder or long rock… and I was focusing on Hotaru's chakra signature more." Hinata said.

"I see. So you didn't pay much attention to what ever this is now. Understandable." Tenten said.

"Let's hurry, I can see them from here." Ino jumped with more speed in her step.

They reached where the person was as Ino stooped down and checked for any vital signs. Hinata's eyes widened in shock, before slightly closing; the tiny veins around her eyes sank in. She released the Byakugan and looked away morosely.

Tenten just looked at Ino holding the young man with blonde hair in her arms. "Well aren't you gonna heal him?" Ino asked.

"Tenten…" Hinata started quietly.

"…we're too late." Ino finished.

* * *

Itachi had just finished reaching the top of the pyramid where, ironically, there was barely any mist. There on the top of the flat surface, seemed to be a broken down temple of some sort. White pillars stood dilapidated while some were somehow twisted into curls; warped in reality.

He walked into the broken down temple, into the shadows where faint light seeped through cracks in the ceiling until he reached a small room which had a pillar positioned in each corner, and in the center of the room was a large platform that seemed to have been carved out of solid diamond as beautiful light shone down from the ceiling on it, creating a rainbow hue.

Itachi went over to inspect it, as if to search for treasure. Having examined the diamond plate in vain, he looked left out the corner of his eye without turning his head, and activated his sharingan. He closed his eyes, tilted his head forward and shook it lightly before giving a sigh.

He swiftly dropped to the ground on his hands and chest as five arrows grazed the air above him.

"Well I'll be damned. Boy, you must be somethin'." A deep voice said. "I even tried to be as quiet as possible."

Itachi got up and dusted himself off casually before staring at his assailant. His red eyes were staring at a considerably muscular figure standing in the shadows. "Oh, well I'm looking for something. Have you seen it?" Itachi asked in monotone, expression unchanging.

"How can you be so cool? I tried to kill you." The man began to walk into the light. He was clad in black and dark green samurai armor. "I know not of which you speak, you will have to be more precise." He said boldly. He lunged forward and with great speed, stabbed Itachi in the stomach with some kind of transparent yet seemingly visible weapon.

Itahi gave a weak smile. "I see." All of a sudden, Itachi seemed to melt and shrink into the weapon until he was completely absorbed and out of sight.

"Poor guy; guess he didn't know what I was capable of. He's in a better place now."

"…seeing that you possess the Totsuka, and you're still here…" Hearing Itachi's voice mad the samurai's spine straighten. "I assume you're its guardian."

The samurai turned around and saw Itachi's figure standing in the shaodws. Only his glowing sharingan were legible. "You, those eyes. Impossible."

Itachi slowly walked into the light looking down. "This time, I'll be "_more precise_"…" He looked up with a new sharingan in his eyes, where the tomoe merged at the pupil and resembled a spiraling tornado with 3 blades. "I want that sword."

* * *

welll there u have it... R&R plz :D


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